Lakers Eye 2 New Stars After Losing Donovan Mitchell To Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Donovan Mitchell are on the verge of agreeing on a record-breaking contract.

Now that their search for a new coach is finished, the Cavs are reportedly planning to present Mitchell with a four-year, $209 million extension.

Barring something crazy happening, Mitchell will accept.

Mitchell’s decision to return to Cleveland will have massive ramifications on the entire NBA. Many teams hoped to steal him away from the Cavs – including the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers made their best possible offer for Mitchell a matter of public record. Clearly it wasn’t enough.

Now they are shifting gears.

“The Lakers likely will explore the trade market to see what type of veterans they can add to give LeBron James, Anthony Davis and new coach J.J. Redick the best chance of comPeting this season, with NBA names such as Dejounte Murray and Collin Sexton being batted around by rival teams as possible targets,” NBA insider Jonathan Givony reported this week.

Murray has been linked to the Lakers a lot in recent months. He almost joined the team at the Trade Deadline, but one issue ultimately prevented that from happening.

With Darvin Ham gone, there will be one fewer obstacle in the way of a potential deal between the Lakers and Atlanta Hawks.

Sexton is another player who has previously been linked to L.A. Similarly, though – a major roadblock prevented a deal from taking place there.

Over the past two years Sexton has put up respectable numbers for the Utah Jazz: 17 points per Game on 49.3 percent shooting from the field and 39.4 percent shooting from three. He also chipped in 4.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds per Game.

There is no denying he is a solid player. Is he a legitimate third star, though? Probably not.

Clearly the Lakers badly wanted Mitchell. Unfortunately he simply wasn’t there for him. How will they shift gears? One way or another, an answer is coming over the next few weeks.

Carlos Garcia

A longtime Sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB Games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.